It’s winter, and if you’re like us, that means your golf is super limited unless you travel or want to freeze. As raging golf dorks, we’ve somewhat perfected the art of moderately feeding our golf fix through the dark, cold months. Here we’ll share some of our tips for winter golf survival as well as various things you should/could do to be prepared for the upcoming season.

Winter Golf Survival Tip 1 – Keep Playing

“Yes, yes. Winter Rules.” Listen, if there’s a course nearby that’ll let me play and there isn’t so much snow I won’t be able to find my ball, I’ll play. It has to be pret-ty cold for me not consider the option. Don’t get me wrong, there is a limit. At some point, it just isn’t even remotely worth it. There are a handful of things to keep in mind:

• The golf ball isn’t going to fly so your distances will suck.
• If you have the luxury of backup gear, use your old gear you don’t mind risking a bit. I’ve seen some clubs damaged in “less than ideal” winter conditions.

• Listen to Judge Smails – play Winter Rules. You’re just out there to swing the club and have fun.
• Temporary greens are fine, just deal with it. You aren’t really gaining anything in your putting stroke in these conditions anyway. (But if you have a course that let’s you on the greens, play that course!)
• Maybe bring a small flask for a wee kip of whiskey to keep you warm.
• Maybe don’t drink booze on the course when it’s cold. Science shows that alcohol will lower your core temperature and that could be bad news when it’s like 10ºF outside. Stick to something with electrolytes and add some protein in.
• Get a cart warmer and cover. If you’re playing a course that’ll let you ride in a cart, this is a HUGE win.

Winter Golf Survival Tip 2 – Simulator Golf

Simulator golf places have become much more common and accessible in recent years. While nowhere near the same, you can choose random courses from all over the world and play 18 holes in just a couple of hours. These can get kind of expensive, but so can a trip to the Bahamas in January.

Winter Golf Survival Tip 3 – Watch Any & All Televised Golf

Fortunately (for us fans), professional golf has become a year-long season with minimal weeks of no golf being played. Thankfully there are television channels around the world who will broadcast it all for us. Before you know it, it’s January 1st and the PGA Tour’s “start” of the season is within sight with the Tournament of Champions…which means only a few more grueling weeks (or months) of winter and we’ll be playing real golf soon! I specifically like watching the Australian events where the coverage starts at 9:30pm at night on a Wednesday and runs until like 4am! Can’t sleep? Don’t worry, they’re golfing in Australia! Yeah, some of these tournaments can get pretty boring and hard to care about, but it’s something to fill the void.

Winter Golf Survival Tip 4 – Club Work/Repair

Winter is a great time to get some much needed club work done. Get that rattle in your driver head fixed. Throw on fresh grips for the start of next season or your offseason indoor practice. The point is, while your clubs are seeing minimal use, this is a great time to do all the maintenance necessary to hit the ground swinging next season.

If you’re a tinkerer, this is also a great time to mess around with your clubs. I find that I end up doing most of my “customization projects” in the winter. I can’t play so it helps me get my big time golf nerd fix in via a different means. So pick up a beat putter head or wedge and get to work bringing it back to life!

Winter Golf Survival Tip 5 – Carpet Putting

This is pretty self explanatory. I can’t swing a club in my house, can’t always get to the dome, and I just HAVE to strike a golf ball. Find yourself a floor, preferably carpeted, and roll some putts at a target. You can go crazy and get some sort of putting mat or platform like a real Driving Range Hero. Having this setup in my house has been a LIFESAVER winter after winter.

Winter Golf Survival Tip 6 – Indoor Lessons

There are a lot of options to keep getting better through the winter these days. Even if it’s just hitting into a net with a pro, it could be better than nothing. Ask your current coach/instructor what their winter plans are. If you can keep working with them, great. If not, maybe they can refer you to someone.

I will add this. If you’re going to take lessons over the winter, work with a good instructor. Don’t get suckered into these big box stores that offer lessons. I’ve never seen a good player come out of these, but maybe that’s just my limited view.

Winter Golf Survival Tip 7 – Get a Fitting

Ok, so you’ve played a season with your gear and some things went well, some things didn’t. Now’s a good time to stop in at a good fitter and see what changes you might want to make for next year. Time it right and you might get to try out all the new clubs coming out! Which brings me to my next tip…

Winter Golf Survival Tip 8 – Buy Golf Stuff

Scratch that golf itch by buying ALL the golf stuff. Especially if you’re only going to hit the clubs indoors. At least you can talk about all the cool new stuff you’ve accumulated for next season and make a bunch of changes to your bag without playing a real round of golf. Just ask Jon and me, we probably have 8 new putters go in and out of the bag between the two of us over the winter with only putting on frozen greens a few times at best. But hey, you have something golf related to talk about when you’re trapped inside during a blizzard in February.

Winter Golf Survival Tip 9 – Watch Hockey

Forget it, it’s just too cold outside and the winter is too long. Turn on some hockey and enjoy the fast pace excitement every other night. Maybe go to a game or two. Most of those guys are pretty good golfers anyway, so close enough.

Final Thoughts – Surviving Winter Golf

So there you have it. 9 easy tips to help you survive the long and dark winters of misery without golf. I can’t guarantee these will do it for you, but it’s the best I’ve got and has done alright for me over the years. Let us know in the comments what you do to keep the dream alive over the winter.